THEORIES OF COMMUNICATION
MAGIC BULLET/ HYPODERMIC NEEDLE/
SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY THEORY
Virulent critics of the Free Press Theory
were Wilbur Schramm, Siebert and Theodore
Paterson. In their book Four Theories Of Press,
they stated "pure libertarianism is antiquated,
outdated and obsolete." They advocated the need
for its replacement by the Social Responsibility
theory. This theory can be said to have been
initiated in the United States by the Commission of
The Freedom Of Press, 1949. The commission
found that the free market approach to press
freedom had only increased the power of a single
class and has not served the interests of the less
well-off classes. The emergence of radio, TV and
film suggested the need for some means of
accountability. Thus the theory advocated some
obligation on the part of the media to society. A
judicial mix of self regulation and state regulation
and high professional standards were imperative.
SOVIET MEDIA/COMMUNIST THEORY
This theory is derived from the ideologies of
Marx and Engel that "the ideas of the ruling classes
are the ruling ideas". It was thought that the entire
mass media was saturated with bourgeois ideology.
Lenin thought of private ownership as being
incompatible with freedom of press and that
modern technological means of information must
be controlled for enjoying effective freedom of
press.
DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION THEORY
The underlying fact behind the genesis of
this theory was that there can be no development
without communication. Under the four classical
theories, capitalism was legitimized, but under the
Development communication theory, or
Development Support Communication as it is
otherwise called, the media undertook the role of
carrying out positive developmental programmes,
accepting restrictions and instructions from the
State. The media subordinated themselves to
political, economic, social and cultural needs.
Hence the stress on "development communication"
and "development journalism". There was tacit
support from the UNESCO for this theory. The
weakness of this theory is that "development" is
often equated with government propaganda.
DEMOCRATIZATION/DEMOCRATIC
PARTICIPANT MEDIA THEORY
This theory vehemently opposes the
commercialization of modern media and its top-
down non-participant character. The need for
access and right to communicate is stressed.
Bureaucratic control of media is decried.
STIMULUS RESPONSE THEORY
Before the first World War, there was no
separate field of study on Communication, but
knowledge about mass communication was
accumulating. An outcome of World War I
propaganda efforts, the Magic Bullet or Hypodermic
Needle Theory came into existence. It propounded
the view that the mass media had a powerful
influence on the mass audience and could
deliberately alter or control peoples' behaviour.
KLAPPER
(1960) formulated several generalizations
on the effects of mass media. His research findings
are as follows: "Mass-media ordinarily does not
serve as a necessary and sufficient cause of
audience effect, but rather functions through a
nexus of mediating factors and influences. These
mediating factors render mass-communication as a
contributory agent in a process of reinforcing the
existing conditions."
The main mediating factors which he
considers responsible for the functions and effects
of mass communications are selective exposure
i.e., people's tendency to expose themselves to
those mass communications which are in
agreement with their attitudes and interests; and
selective perception and retention i.e., people's
inclination to organize the meaning of mass
communication messages into accord with their
already existing views.
WO STEP FLOW THEORY
In the early 40"s, before the invention of
television, Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Goudet
conducted an American survey on mass
campaigns. The study revealed that informal social
relationships had played
a part in modifying the
manner in which
individuals selected
content from the media
campaign. The study
also indicated that ideas
often flowed from the
radio and newspapers to
opinion leaders and from them to the less active
sections of society. Thus, informal social groups
have some degree of influence on people and
mould the way they select media content and act
on it.
ONE STEP FLOW THEORY
Theory simply stated that mass
communication media channels communicate
directly to the mass audience without the message
being filtered by opinion leaders.

MULTI STEP FLOW THEORY
This was based on the idea that there are a
number of relays in the communication flow from a
source to a large audience.
USES AND GRATIFICATION THEORY
This theory propounded by Katz in 1970, is
concerned with how people use media for
gratification of their needs. An outcome of
Abraham Maslow's Heirarchy of Needs, it
propounds the fact that people choose what they
want to see or read and the different media
compete to satisfy each individual"s needs.
In the hierarchy of needs, there are five levels in
the form of a pyramid with the basic needs such as
food and clothing at the base and the higher order
needs climbing up the pyramid. The fulfillment of
each lower level need leads to the individual
looking to satisfy the next level of need and so on
till he reaches the superior-most need of self-
actualization.
THE USES AND GRATIFICATIONS APPROACH
Reminds us that people use media for many
purposes. As media users become increasingly
confronted with choices, this approach should
direct our attention to the audience. Lull's television
research found that families used television for
communication facilitation, relationship building,
intimacy, and for structuring the day. In general
researchers have found four kinds of gratifications:
INFORMATION - we want to find out about society
and the world- we want to satisfy our curiosity. This
would fit the news and documentaries which both
give us a sense that we are learning about the
world.
PERSONAL IDENTITY - we may watch the
television in order to look for models for our
behaviour. So, for example, we may identify with
characters that we see in a soap. The characters
help us to decide what feel about ourselves and if
we agree with their actions and they succeed we
feel better about ourselves.
INTEGRATION AND SOCIAL INTERACTION - we
use the media in order to find out more about the
circumstances of other people. Watching a show
helps us to empathize and sympathize with the
lives of others so that we may even end up thinking
of the characters in programme as friends.
ENTERTAINMENT - sometimes we simply use the
media for enjoyment, relaxation or just to fill time.
RILEY AND RILEY
(1951) found that children in peer groups used
adventure stories from the media for group games
while individual children used media stories for
fantasizing and daydreaming. The study thus found
that different people use the same messages from
the media for different purposes.
KATZ
replaced the question "what do media do to
people?" with the question "what do people do with
the media?" Katz, Gurevitch & Hass found that the
media are used by individuals to meet the following
specific needs :
Cognitive needs (acquiring information,
knowledge and understanding);
Affective needs (emotional, pleasurable
experience);
Personal integrative needs (strengthening self
image);
Social integrative needs (strengthening self
image);
Tension release needs (escape and diversion)
SPIRAL OF SILENCE THEORY
Propounded by Elisabeth Noelle
Neumann, this theory states that the media
publicizes opinions that are mainstream and people
adjust their opinions according to their perceptions
to avoid being isolated. Individuals who perceive
their own opinion as being accepted will express it,
whilst those who think themselves as being
a minority, suppress their views. Innovators and
change agents are unafraid to voice different
opinions, as they do not fear isolation.
McCOMBS AND SHAW"S AGENDA SETTING
THEORY
This theory puts forth the ability of the
media to influence the significance of events in the
public's mind. The media set the agenda for the
audience's discussion and mentally order and
organize their world. The theory is consistent with a
"use and gratification" approach. McCombs and
Shaw assert that the agenda-setting function of the
media causes the correlation between the media
and public ordering of priorities. The people most
affected by the media agenda are those who have
a high need for orientation
MEDIA DEPENDENCY THEORY
behavior of models in the mass media also offers
vicarious
reinforcement to motivate audience members'
adoption of the behavior.
BARAN AND DAVIS (2000)
Classify mass communication theories into
three broad categories:
1. microscopic theories that focus on the everyday
life of people who process information - for
example, uses and gratifications, active audience
theory, and reception studies;

Developed by Ball-Rokeach and DeFluer, 2. middle range theories that support the limited
the key idea behind this theory is that audiences effects perspective of the media - for example,
depend on media information to meet needs and information flow theory, diffusion theory, and 3.
reach goals, and social institutions and media macroscopic theories that are concerned with
systems interact with audiences to create needs, media's impact on culture and society - for
interests, and motives in the person. The degree of example, cultural studies theory.
dependence is influenced by the number and LASWELL’S COMMUNICATION THEORY
centrality of information functions and social
stability. Some questions that this theory raised Theories of mass communication have
were : always focused on the "cause and effects" notion,
i.e. the effects of the media and the process leading
Do media create needs? to those effects, on the audience's mind. Harold
Do people turn to media to achieve gratification and Lasswell and Berelson have succinctly expressed
satisfy needs? this idea. Lasswell's essential question is timeless
(1949): "Who says what in what channel to whom
Are media needs personal, social, cultural, political, with what effects?" Berelson said: "Some kinds of
or all of these?
"The media are our friends"??
MODELING BEHAVIOUR THEORY
Behaviors which are modeled from media
experiences can become habitual if found useful
and/or if they are reinforced in the environment.
This is not about violent or criminal behavior.
CULTIVATION THEORY communication, on some kinds of issues, brought
to the attention of some kinds of people, under
George Gerbner tried to determine the some kinds of conditions, have some kinds of
influence of television on viewers" ideas of the effects." (1949).
environment they lived in. He found that dominance
of TV created a common view of the world and that
it homogenized different cultures. TV portrayed the
society as a bad place to live in leading to people
becoming distrustful of the world. Over time,
particular symbols, images, messages, meanings
become dominant and are absorbed as the truth.
Cultural stereotypes, ways of assessing value and
hierarchies are established
THE OSGOOD AND SCHRAMM
SOCIAL LEARNING THEORY
Formulated by Albert Bandura at Stanford
University, this specifies that massmedia messages
give audience members an opportunity to identify
with attractive characters that demonstrate
behavior, engage emotions, and allow mental
rehearsal and modeling of new behavior. The
Wilbur Schramm stated: "In fact, it is misleading to RECEIVER interprets messages based on the
think of the communication process as starting individual's communication skills, attitudes,
somewhere and ending somewhere. It is really knowledge, and social and cultural system. The
endless. We are little switchboard centers handling limitations of the model are its lack of feedback.
and rerouting the great endless current of
information.... " (Schramm W.1954) quoted in
McQuail & Windahl (1981)

SHANNON-WEAVER MODEL.
Shannon and Weaver produced a general
model of communication known after them as the
Shannon-Weaver Model. It involved breaking down
an information system into subsystems so as to
evaluate the efficiency of various communication
channels and codes. They propose that all
communication must include six elements:
ACTIVITY
This model is often referred to as an "
information model" of communication. A drawback Essay Format
is that the model looks at communication as a one-
way process. That is remedied by the addition of Choose one theory and state why it’s
the feedback loop. Noise indicates those factors relevant in today’s society?
that disturb or otherwise influence messages as Minimum of 1 page
they are being transmitted

BERLO'S S-M-C-R MODEL

Berlo"s SMCR (SOURCE, MESSAGE,
CHANNEL, and RECEIVER) model focuses on the
individual characteristics of communication and
stresses the role of the relationship between the
source and the receiver as an important variable in
the communication process. The more highly
developed the communication skills of the source
and the receiver, the more effectively the message
will be encoded and decoded.
Berlo's model represents a communication
process that occurs as a SOURCE drafts
messages based on one's communication skills,
attitudes, knowledge, and social and cultural
system. These MESSAGES are transmitted along
CHANNELS, which can include sight, hearing,
touch,
smell,
and taste.
A